Falls Village is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

in the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

Litchfield County Litchfield County is in northwestern Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 185,186. The county was named after Lichfield, in England. Litchfield County has the lowest population density of any county in Connecticut and is the ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 538, out of 1,234 in the entire town of Canaan. Because Falls Village is the town center and principal constituent village in Canaan, the entire town is often referred to as "Falls Village". That usage also avoids confusion of the town with Canaan Village in the town of

North Canaan, Connecticut North Canaan is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,211 at the 2020 census. The town center is still called "Canaan", being the main town center of the old town of Canaan prior to North Canaan splitting ...

, just to the north. Falls Village derives its name from a waterfall, known as

Great Falls Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

, on the

Housatonic River The Housatonic River ( ) is a river, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United S ...

within the village. The Falls Village

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

is assigned ZIP code 06031, which encompasses the entire town of Canaan.

Geography

Falls Village is on the western side of the town of Canaan in northwestern Connecticut. The western edge of the census-designated place is the Canaan–

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

town line following the

, it extends north of the village as far as Page Road, and south to a power line corridor that crosses Beebe Hill. To the east the CDP extends out Connecticut Route 126 as far as Johnson Road.

U.S. Route 7 U.S. Route 7 (US 7) is a north–south United States highway in western New England that runs for through the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. The highway's southern terminus is at Interstate 95 (I-95) exit 15 ...

passes through the village, leading north to Canaan Village and south the same distance to West Cornwall. Route 126 leads east from Falls Village to

Connecticut Route 63 Route 63 is a secondary state highway in the U.S. state of Connecticut, from New Haven up to Canaan, running for . It connects the Greater New Haven area to Northwestern Connecticut via the western suburbs of Waterbury. Route description Route 63 ...

and north to

U.S. Route 44 U.S. Route 44 (US 44) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that runs for through four states in the Northeastern United States. The western terminus is at US 209 and New York State Route 55 (NY 55) in Kerhonkson, ...

North Canaan North Canaan is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,211 at the 2020 census. The town center is still called "Canaan", being the main town center of the old town of Canaan prior to North Canaan splitting o ...

. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the Falls Village CDP has an area of , all of it recorded as land.

Historic district

StPatricksChurch FallsVillage Connecticut 617sm

In 1979 the Falls Village District was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

as an

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

. The district represents about that were built in the middle of the 19th century as a result of the area being selected as a station stop for the

Housatonic Railroad The Housatonic Railroad ( ) is a Class III railroad operating in southwestern New England and eastern New York. It was chartered in 1983 to operate a short section of ex-New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in northwestern Connecticut, and ...

in the early 1830s. Newer buildings around the junction of

and Connecticut Route 126 are excluded. The historic district includes examples of Greek Revival, Italianate, and Queen Anne architecture. It includes 71 buildings and the canal built to harness water power from the Great Falls northwest of the village. The district is bounded on the south by the east-west portion of Railroad Street, on the east by the rear property lines of houses fronting Beebe Hill Road, on the north by the rear property lines of houses fronting Brewster Road, and on the west by the

tracks (with a bulge in the northwest to include the unused 1851 canal between Water Street and the railroad tracks). and Contributing properties in the historic district include the D. M. Hunt Library, built in 1891, and St. Patrick's Church.

References

External links

Town of Canaan / Falls Village official website
{{Authority control Census-designated places in Litchfield County, Connecticut Canaan (town), Connecticut Villages in Litchfield County, Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Litchfield County, Connecticut Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut

Geography

Historic district

See also

References

External links